Film Scans, a project
Film Scans was birthed out of a love for photography and history. When visiting thrift stores, I would find boxes of 35mm slides that were being sold for next to nothing. These pictures weren't always the best - occasionally moldy or underexposed - but some were amazing. I purchased the boxes, not knowing at the time what I would do with them. To view the slides, I bought an old Kodak carousel slide projector and began projecting them onto a sheet hanging from my wall. I was captivated by images of birthday parties and road trips from people I did not know. There was something about peering into the lives of strangers that really made the photos special.
I amassed quite a collection before realizing that I should be sharing these with people. Soon after, I bought a scanner and made the Filmscans Instagram. At this point, I own approximately 8,000 35mm slides, and the collection is always growing.
Recently, I sent off most of my collection of movie films. Super 8 and Regular 8mm film was sent to be digitally transferred by Nicholas Coyle. He did a fantastic job and now I’ve begun to comb through the transferred footage. I will be uploading and posting clips from these films as I work my way through them. You can keep tabs on new content either here, on my Instagram, or on Vimeo.
This entire undertaking has been accomplished using all my own funds. As I’m sure you can imagine, things can get expensive pretty quickly. A heartwarming number of people have reached out to me asking how they can support this project. If you feel so inclined, you may make a donation to my efforts using the Paypal link. This is by no means required or even encouraged, however, it is greatly appreciated.